More than 100 Bayside residents attended the first Reuse and Repair Day at Eastlakes Community Hall, with hundreds of items swapped, repaired or given a second life instead of being discarded.
The event was held on Saturday 12 September as part of Oxfam’s Secondhand September campaign. Bayside Council says residents brought about 100 kilograms of household items and clothing for repair, while another 75 kilograms of toys and reusable items were rehomed.
What happened on the day
The event combined clothing and toy swaps with practical repair services. Council says about 550 items found a new home through the swap activities.
Repairers from The Bower worked on small electrical appliances, furniture and other household items. Examples included a lawn mower, shredder, headphones, hair dryer, blender and even a dog bed.
Residents could also get help with simple clothing repairs and learn basic repair skills, rather than automatically replacing items that were damaged but still useful.
Why repair and reuse matters
The event was designed to encourage a more circular approach to household goods: keeping products in use for longer through repair, reuse and swapping rather than sending them to landfill.
That gives the event a practical local benefit as well as an environmental one. Residents can save usable items, pass unwanted goods to someone who needs them and learn skills that may help them repair things at home in future.
A strong response to the first event
The original event was restricted to Bayside residents and required registration. Its strong turnout provides Council with an indication of local interest in repair and reuse activities.
Bayside News originally reported the event before it took place. This article has been updated with the attendance and reuse figures released by Council after the event, so the permanent story records what actually happened rather than leaving readers with an expired event notice.